Chapter 6 Flashcards
(27 cards)
Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
People want to see themselves as fulfilling their own values, as intelligent, kind, etc (whatever they want to be). When their behaviors do not fit this idealized view of themselves, they experience a state of cognitive dissonance, mental discomfort. We expend energy in one of several ways to reduce this feeling.
Things people do to reduce cognitive dissonance:
- Change behavior. “I will never do that again.”
- Change existing thought “I actually don’t enjoy that”
- Create new thought “My behavior was justified because:”
People’s tendency to overestimate how much something in the future will emotionally affect them, because they do not recognize the strength of their mind’s ability to waive cognitive dissonance:
Impact bias.
When is cognitive dissonance the most powerful/worst?
When it’s dissonance about one’s self-concept, when they do something that goes against their values.
Decisions where you must choose one thing over the other can cause what kind of dissonance?
postdecision dissonance.
What do we do when we experience Postdecision dissonance?
because of the discomfort of having potentially made the wrong choice, we over-justify our decision. “B was definitely the right answer on that test.”. CAN CHANGE HOW WE ACT BECAUSE WE JUSTIFY WHAT WE DO AND THEN DO IT AGAIN
The Justification of Effort
More likely to justify a decision if it took a lot of effort to accomplish. NFT PEOPLE ON TWITTER, also hazing rituals.
External Justification
“I told the next test subject the study was fun for 100$ because that’s a lot of money” Sufficient external reason for us to go against our typical norms does not lead to any permanent cognition changes.
Internal justification
“I told the next test subject the study was fun for only 10$, it must be because I actually believe that.” People justify their behaviors internally (See first card: creating new cognitions, changing behaviors, Editing existing cognitions) when the external justification for their behavior isn’t sufficient.
Forbidden toy experiment
Kids were given a bunch of toys and told one was forbidden. One group had severe threats (you will be kicked out) and one had mild threats (i would be a little sad if you used that toy). Kids with the mild punishment played with it less, and their refusal to play with it continued for weeks after the experiment, because they had relied on Internal Justification (insufficient punishment).
Causes of internal justification
Insufficient reward, insufficient punishment.
Counterattitudinal advocacy
Advocating for an idea or view that you disagree with leads you to understand it and sometimes even switch to believing it. Very useful for people with body image issues.
Self-Persuasion
A form of internal justification where you convince yourself of something because of (insufficient external justification), and afterwards, you keep that belief permanently.
person paid 10$ to write a short article about why racial equity is important, is more likely to start believing more in racial equity permanently, than someone paid 200$
Hypocrisy Induction
The act of showing someone the difference between what they say/value and what they do. Creates dissonance in their brain, pretty much forces them to change their behavior (or thoughts…)
Justifying good deeds
Get someone to like you by asking them to do you a favor. They’ll have to internally justify why they did it, and come to like you more.
Justifying harmful acts
When people harm others, they face dissonance, and can try to justify the behavior, dehumanizing/otherizing the victim, saying they deserved it. “I punched my teacher in the face, she deserved it though for giving me a D” even though you just punched her because you were in a bad mood/horrible at impulse control.
Downside of dissonance reduction
Can be awful in terms of justifying harmful acts like nazis dehumanizing jews. We need to be aware of our tendency to do that.
Application of most powerful dissonance
Make something a matter of personal values, about their self identity. “You don’t want to be an awful person, right? You better vote then.”
Self-Affirmation
Reducing dissonance by reminding yourself of your positive traits. “I’m a good person.”
When will people be more satisfied with a purchase, ten minutes before or after?
After, because of post-decision dissonance.
Irrevocability of a decision
Increases dissonance. Salespeople use lowballing, starting at a lower price than expected and claiming it was an error and then raising the price after people already decide on wanting it.
False Consensus
“everyone would cheat if they had the chance”
The Ben Franklin Effect
Asking someone to do you a favor makes them like you more.
One of the major causes of PTSD in people who fought in Iraq
Insufficient justification for killing children and civilians.
